The number of Edmontonians who were in the Rexall Place pews for that otherworldly, high-speed, defence-splitting, ridiculous go-ahead goal on Tuesday night will grow exponentially over time.

Kind of like Connor McDavid’s impact on the Oiler franchise.

His new linemate Jordan Eberle head-manned the puck, then enjoyed the view as McDavid roared through the middle of the ice and most of the Columbus Blue Jackets to score his sixth of the season and rip the roof off the building.

“I think I had the best seat in the house,” said Eberle. “It was incredible.”

It was almost the kind of play that ended three months ago with McDavid in a heap against the end boards, a crooked expression on his face, a crack in his clavicle.

“The last time I was one-on-two it didn’t end well for me,” he said. “A little better result tonight.”

That part didn’t immediately register with head coach Todd McLellan, but he got there eventually.

“It was quite eerily similar,” he said, though he noted that the injury happened deeper in the corner. “It shows he’s overcome what happened to him earlier in his career. He’s able to go out and play without any fear.”

This was game 14 of that career. It’s as early as it gets for an NHLer. But he was the best player on the ice, hands down, from the git-go. And you just know we’re going to see more three-point nights, more virtuoso performances, more head-shaking skill. And fear? Leave that for the opposing defencemen who, by the end of the night, were practically throwing the puck away at the mere sight of the kid.

It took three months for the healing and rehab, and two minutes to prove he was over it. That’s how long his first shift lasted. His line started to great applause, he drew a penalty, and stayed out for the powerplay, which snapped the puck around the Blue Jackets’ zone for a minute and a half, and nearly scored a couple of times.

And they wanted to ease the kid back into the game? He wasn’t having any of it. He felt nervous, he admitted, but that first shift erased the jitters. Then little by little, his skill set played out. The speed. The deft stripping of the puck from a defenceman. The saucer toss. The physical will to stay in a puck battle and win it. That sick goal.

“He’s got a skill level and a hunger level to go with it,” said McLellan.

He is also, like every other great player, capable of elevating the games of his teammates. On Tuesday, McLellan chose to deploy that weaponry in hopes that it would pay off exactly as it did, to kick start Eberle and Pouliot.

Two wingers struggling mightily to find the net, tossed into the residual spotlight by virtue of association with the returning phenom. Sure, line combinations are fluid, but they’re also purposeful. And those two Oilers needed to play with purpose again.

Pouliot scored on a deft tip of an Andrej Sekera point shot for one powerplay goal, and then another massive individual effort by McDavid left Eberle with a yawning cage for another one on the PP. The line had seven points and might be the way to go.

“The points were there. We did some good stuff,” said McDavid.

Prior to puck drop, McLellan had asked Eberle and Pouliot to help get McDavid up and running, to make sure they helped him as much as he was likely to help them. Impossible. On this night, a rested, rejuvenated, hungry McDavid was a gift from the head coach for two wingers who needed a spark.

When the kid is that good, he’s going to drag somebody, maybe everybody, along with him. Eberle had seen the lifeline for what it was. He said all the right things Tuesday morning about playing with a talented linemate, about finding chemistry and being patient with someone who has been out of the lineup for 37 games. And he put the onus on himself where it belonged.

“Any time you’re put with a good player, you’re excited. You get a lot more opportunity. But more than anything you’ve got to worry about your game. I want to be able to play to my standard, and play the way I know I can play and that’s just going to help all of us.”

He hadn’t pulled the trigger with anything approaching consistency since mid-December, and admitted he needed to score from the dirty part of the paint. That’s where he was for his power play goal.

“I think Jordan’s threshold for production and impact on the game is higher than we’ve seen,” McLellan said in the morning. “I shared that with him. … We need him to get up and running at a higher level. Same thing with Benny Pouliot, for us to have success in the last 32 games.”

Because, whether you believe it or not, McDavid can’t actually do it all by himself. Well, not every night.

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